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September 19, 2001
Overland Australia - Update 46
September 19, 2001
Day 58
Tanami Track, 30km southeast of Yuendumu Northern Territory Australia
New milestone! After 2.5 days and 80km of ceaseless sweating, sliding and slogging our bikes through spinifex, sand and over at least one snake, we finally shifted scenery. We made it to the infamous Tanami Track, a wide and seemingly endless expanse of bulldust and corrugations. We’d heard so much about it. When we told others it was where we were headed we got head shakes, open guffaws and always, “You’ll never make it!” We were told about the endless, high-speed parades of road trains, the lack of water and firewood, the impassable waves of sand. They gave the impression that we would have a 300km walk on our hands.
Not ones to be daunted by people telling us “you can’t” we continued on as planned, as we always have. Now we’ve arrived and guess what? What everybody has told us thus far is wrong. We’ve seen worse in every category. We’ve only been on the road 27km and we’ve already found a shower with hot and cold running water (as shared by friendly highway workers; our first in about 5 days!). The dust isn’t bad, the road trains infrequent. We were able to cover a third of the distance we’d covered over the past 2.5 days in about 2 hours. It’s all relative.
Had we just come off a sealed road, we’d be cursing under our breath about the corrugations. Instead, after all our recent trials and sweat, some of us can honestly say that we are glad to be on the Tanami. This is just one more example of why you should never let people tell you can’t do something. First of all, they probably have never tried whatever it is or even seen it for themselves. What would they know? Secondly, they might not even know you or what you’ve been through or what your capabilities are. So why are you letting them hold you back?
Todd
PS. Thanks to a call from her parents on the sat-phone early this morning, we learned of today being Bel’s 20th birthday. Happy birthday to Bel! (Who has maintained for several weeks now that the day is the 1st December). Not being in the immediate vicinity of a card store we had to make do with writing a suitable greeting on the back of the support truck.
Posted on September 19, 2001 1:28 PM